Lacing-hook



(No Model.)

W. O. BRAY.

' LAGING HOOK.

No. 438,162. Patented Ju1y'29, 1890.

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VILLIAM C. BRAY, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LAClNG-HOOK.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,162, dated July 29, 1890.

Application filed April 28, 1890. Serial No. 349,081. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM C. BRAY, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lacing-Hooks, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to lacing-hooks, and especially to that class of such hooks termed prongccl hooks, as distinguished from those which have tubular shanks and commonly known as lacing-studs, and it consists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which will be readily understood by reference to the description of the drawings, and to the claim to be hereinafter given.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan, and Fig. 2 an elevation, of a section of a metal wire or rod having a portion of its length swaged to form thereon the outline of a blank and impart thereto the desired contour in cross-section. Fig. 3 represents cross-sections of three different forms of wire or rod that may be used in the manufacture of my improved hook. Figs. 1 and 5 represent two forms of blanks after they have been separated from the wire or rod and the fin around the same has been trimmed or cut away. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the blank shown in Fig. 5. Figs. 7, S, 9, and 10 are respectively transverse sections through the head, the neck, the inner collar, and one of the prongs of the blank illustrated in Fig. 5, but drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section of the blank shown in Fig. 5 after the prongs have been bent at right angles to the inner collar or base-section. Fig. 12 is an elevation of the same hook completed. Fig. 13 is an elevation of a finished hook formed from the blank shown in Fig. 4 and having a conical head. Fig. 14 is a sectional plan of Fig. 13 on line 1 1, and Fig. 15 is an elevation ofa hook having a frusto-conical head.

The object of my present invention is the production of a comparatively cheap lacinghook that shall have most of the advantages of the more expensive lacing-studs and avoid some of the objections to the sheet-metal hook now in common use; and to this end 1 form my hook from a solid wire or rod A, which may be round, oval, or rectangular, as shown in Fig.

In the manufacture of my improved lacinghook I first subject a section of the solid wire or rod to the action of suitable swaging-dies to compress the metal thereof and form there from a blank having the desired outline in plan and the requisite contour in transverse section. The blank thus formed comprises a head-section a, a neck-section b, a base-section c, and one or more prong-sections (l, and when it leaves the swaging-dies it will be surrounded by a thin tin of metal, being the surplus stock pressed out by the dies, and which is to be cut away by suitable male and female dies, when the blank will appear as shown in Fi 4 or in Figs. 5 and 6. The section a has the side which is to form the inner face of the head made fiat and its opposite side made convex, conical, or frusto-conical, or so as to have a raised center. The section b has an elliptical or semi-elliptical transverse section, as may be preferred; but that side which is to form the inner side of the neck must be convex in the direction of its width. The section 0 is made flat upon both sides, except that the side which is to form the upper or outer face of the base has its corners slightly rounded to prevent injury to the lacing-cord, and the section cl has that side which is to be outward when clinched in the material made convex in the direction of its width and its opposite side flat or convex transversely, as may be preferred. Vhen the blank has been properly trimmed to remove the fin, the prong or prongs d are bent to a position at right angles to the base 0, as shown in Fig. 11, and then the neck I) is bent,so as to turn the head a into a position directly over the base 0, with its flat side toward said base, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

The head a may have its outer surface convex, as shown in Fig. 12; conical, as shown in Fig. 13, or frust-o-conical, as shown in Fig. 11; but I prefer the convex form shown in Fig. 12. The neck I) may be semi-elliptical, as shown in Fig. 8; but I prefer to make it elliptical, as shown in Fig. 1%.

The prongs (Z may radiate from the basesection of the blank in any preferred direction, and may be one or more in number, as may be preferred, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The advantages of this hook are that it can be made much cheaper ,than the tubularshanked stud made from solid wire, has a smooth rounded neck, and solid head having a raised center like said tubular stud,'and when clinched into the material presents no sharp or ragged corners to injure the foot or stocking.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patentrof the United States, is

A lacing-hook rnade from a solid wire rod or bar and provided with a head havinga raised center and thicker at its center than at its edges, a base-plate or collar of substantially an even thickness, but of greater width than the clinching-prongs,a neck connecting said head and base at one side thereof and which are to be outward when clinched curved convexly in the direction of their Widths. V

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 19th day of April, A. D". 1890.

\VILLIAM O. BRAY.

\Vitncssesf N. O. LOMBARD, WALTER E. LOMBARD. 

